CAN women have it all ?

It is a question often asked and one few have the answers to but with the role of women in society, and their treatment, being very much under the spotlight, it is one that keeps coming up.

Can you be a mother and a successful businesswoman ?

Essex mums Liz Standley and Lucy Smith thinks so - and they have done it single-handedly.

Both women have been speaking out in the wake of international Women's Day and as members of the Essex Business Women's Network (BWN) which unites like-minded women from across the region.

Liz, who lives in Wivenhoe, has a five-year-old daughter Mathilde and runs her own travel company franchise, Travel Counsellors.

She says running her own company gives her the flexibility to be there as much as possible with her little girl.

"She was born in France while I was working out there.

"I was running my own recruitment business, finding staff for luxury chalets/villas, private households and yachts.

Echo: Wanderlust - Liz Standley is a Travel Counsellor

"I fell pregnant and carried on running my business, but it was hard not having family close by, so when my daughter was 18 months I made the decision to return to the UK.

With her relationship having broken down, she returned to England to raise her daughter.

"My parents are here and are really supportive but they are away for six months of the year so I needed to find a way I could manage on my own, supporting us both.

"I also have really good friends too and now she is at school the breakfast and after school clubs are really useful," says Liz.

She says it is crucial her work be flexible so finding Travel Counsellors was a turning point.

"It is my own business so I can work when I want and make sure I am finding time with my daughter.

"But the great thing about Travel Counsellors is it very much a community too and we all keep in contact with each other and support each other as there is an administrative head office in Manchester.

"Everyone understands how difficult it can be," she says.

It does mean Liz is often working in the evenings while Mathilde is asleep - but in her line of work this can end up in her favour.

"When people are booking holidays they often want to do it when they themselves are not at work so speaking to them in the evening works out.

"I often pick my daughter up from the after school club at 4.30pm, then she has my whole attention until she goes to bed, when I can then pick up on work again.

"I also have the flexibility to be there for school plays, sports day and accompanying her class on school trips."

"It is hard when it is just you, and like a lot of mums who work I do feel guilty sometimes but I am doing it for her," says Liz.

That drive and determination to do the best for her child is something Lucy Smith also knows only too well.

She firmly believes women can achieve anything they want and they should absolutely know their worth in the work place.

Lucy says: "I am quite outspoken about all of this equal pay discussion - we should make sure we are paid what we think we are worth and that should be the end of it.

Echo: Lucy Smith and her son Harry ; Credit Caroline Horne Suffolk Photography

"I don't invite discussion amongst my employees, I would actively discourage it, so you shouldn't know what anyone else is earning and be happy with what you are getting.

"Equality starts with us having belief in ourselves."

This single-mindedness has stood Lucy, who runs Colchester-based company Contractor Umbrella, in good stead.

Lucy had a high-earning job as an account director for a design agency at a London creative design company before going on maternity leave to have her son Harry, now 12.

She and her partner had moved to Essex from Hertfordshire and with Harry aged 15 months she had not returned to work when the relationship came to an abrupt end.

"I basically found myself having moved away from family, with no job and a baby and so I had to decide what I wanted to do really. I needed to work to support us both.

"And I knew to continue with the life I wanted for my son I would have to go back to work full-time. I sat down and did the sums because I needed to cover full-time childcare.

"But, going back to the pay issue, I applied for a job and I asked for £2,000 more than I had been earning before I went on maternity leave because I knew I could do it and I got it," she says.

Four years ago Lucy, who lives in Suffolk, began working for Contractor Umbrella, unexpectedly taking over the running of the operation soon after joining.

"I was a bit out of my comfort zone but I just had to get on with it, so I did.

"But even when I went back to work when Harry was small I made it clear I wanted to be able to take him to school in the mornings.

"I wasn't going to be able to pick him up each day so I wanted to drop him off, to be a part of it in that way, and I stuck to that," she says.

Lucy says the extra hours free childcare for working mothers, which was introduced by the Government last year, is a positive move forward for working mums.

"Childcare is expensive, I had to sit down and make sure I was earning enough to make sure it was worth my while but any help is a positive move.

"I did have working tax credits for a while and I found that hard because it wasn't something I had done before, but it was a huge help.

"At the end of the day I actually think being a full-time stay-at-home mum is the hardest job you can have.

"Going back to work gave me a chance to be me again, as well as being a mum."